Mind Your Manners
by RichaCo
Summary: After the events of Shadow the Hedgehog, Tails decides to head up to the ARK to gather some spare parts... but when he starts to tick Shadow off... contains spanking...


_**Mind your Manners**_

(Note: In this fanfiction, all sonic characters are more humanoid with some animal parts. Example: Tails is mostly human with orange hair, but still has his fox ears and tails.)

Shadow smiled slightly as he stared out the window of the space station ARK. The earth certainly was beautiful from this height, far more beautiful than it was on the surface in his opinion. Since the incident with the black aliens, he had chosen to make the ARK his home. It was comfortable up here, no one really bothered him since only a select few knew of how to transport here, and most of the supplies on board were still perfectly preserved, meaning he wouldn't need to go back down to earth for food for a year at least. Then again, maybe he would pay some of his friends a social call now and then, if only to hassle that blue hedgehog.

Shadow had to chuckle to himself as he thought of that Sonic character. They had been friends, rivals, and when they had first met, enemies. Over time, however, they had fought for common causes and even though their personalities were as different as night and day, he couldn't help but feel compelled to call Sonic his friend... Then there was that hothead, Knuckles. No, he would like to avoid him if he could. Then there was Amy and Rouge. Both of them were nice, in their own way, if a little obsessive about certain things, namely Sonic himself and Jewels, respecitively. Dr. Robotnik... well, he was more of an on/off friend, considering that he was an evil genius. Then again, he owed his existance to the Robotnik family, so there was probably some lingering loyalty there. Then there was that boy, Tails. He was an interesting one. Shadow felt sort of a fatherish feeling around the boy. He couldn't really explain it, but the kid was nice and Shadow could connect with him on a very intellectual level... sometimes.

He was interrupted when a loud beeping started up at the control panel. He frowned gently. That was coming from the communications channel for the ARK. Only people who knew the correct frequency could contact it. Who had that kind of knowledge? He didn't even know anyone who knew. He slowly walked over and booted up the screen He was greeted by two furry orange fox ears and a smiling boyish face. He grinned slightly, running a hand through his sleek black hair. "Tails. I should have guessed."

Tails smiled back at him. "Hey there Shadow. Sorry to just call up out of the blue like this!"

Shadow shrugged. "No problem. I'm actually surprised that you knew the communcation channel for this place."

Tails shrugged. "I was bored, so I did my research to figure it out. Ordinarilly, I'd just pop up there, but since you kinda own the place now, I thought I should call ahead first."

Shadow nodded. "Well, what is it?"

Tais rubbed his arm, apparently a little nervous. "Well, I was wondering if it would be alright if I um... if I came up there to grab a few things? There's lots of machinery up there that I'm sure you aren't using right now that I'm pretty sure I could use in my own inventions."

Shadow scratched his head. "Well, I guess it's alright... as long as you promise to check with me before removing anything you think you'll need. A lot of stuff here is interconnected and the last thing I need is for the artificial gravity to fail because you pulled something out of a fuse box."

Tails laughed lightly. "Okay Shadow, I promise I'll check with you first."

Shadow nodded. "Alright then. Come on up. The teleporter on this end is always running so you should be able to get here no problem... exactly where are you going to teleport from?"

Tails shrugged a bit. "Eggman's abandoned pyramid base. It still has the teleporter there and power is still running through it periodically. I should be able to use it there."

Shadow nodded again. "Alright then, I'll be waiting for you at the teleporter. Just don't keep me waiting long."

Tails nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I can, Shadow!" The screen went black.

Shadow grinned slightly and looked out the window at a small star cluser. "Hehe, that fox is just like a kid at Chrstmas when it comes to machinery. Still, I do hope that he doesn't get carried away." Shadow shrugged a bit and sighed. "I'm getting far too soft, by god." He chuckled again and headed for the teleporter room to meet up with Tails.

It was fifteen minutes later and Shadow was waiting patiently by the teleporter. He knew that the flight, even with Tails' plane, to Eggman's old base would take some time. He reclined a bit and sighed, once again letting recent memories wash over him. He didn't know why such memories that had caused him so much pain in the past now merely caused him to reminice about other things that made him smile. He had definitely changed quite a bit over the few years that he had been alive here on earth.

His quick trip down memory lane was interrupted whenThe teleporter started to boot up, signifying someone was coming in. Slowly, Tails' body started to form in the depths of the machine and he stepped out of it, looking himself over, as if making sure that everything had transported with him. Shadow raised a quick hand in greeting. "Welcome back, Tails. It's been, what, a year since you've been up here?"

Tails shrugged. "Yeah, I think so. Since you destroyed that giant black comet, in fact!"

Shadow nodded and crossed his arms. "Alright, like I said before, go ahead and look around for anything you want, but check with me first before removing it. I'm still trying to assess the damage that was done to it during the whole war with the black aliens. A few of the lower parts fell to pieces and I'm thinking about getting them repaired."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "Won't that be expensive?"

Shadow shrugged. "Yes, but I can just strip down some other parts of this place that I won't use. The Eclipse Cannon, for example. I'll strip it down so it can't be used by anyone again, and then I can sell the parts to people as spare pieces. A lot of the parts are multi-purpose anyway."

Tails smiled. "You certainly thought that out. Maybe then you'll be able to buy an update for your wardrobe. Why do you always wear black anyway?"

Shadow looked down at the ebony pants and sweatshirt he was wearing. His ear twitched slightly at Tails' comment. "What does it matter? If it's comfortable, I wear it. Besides, black suites me... just like that getup you're wearing suites you."

Tails blushed a bit. He had come wearing a bright orange long-sleeved shirt and a pair of nice red shorts. "What? It's hot down at my workshop today!" he defended himself.

Shadow shrugged. "Whatever. I'll be back in the control room. Just come and get me when you think you've found something you want."

Tails nodded again. "I got it! He smiled at Shadow and started to wander around, immediately examining the closest fuse box.

Shadow roled his eyes. "Deeper in, Tails. Everything in the next few rooms is still operating and I need it all in tact to keep my current comfort level in check."

Tails laughed a little, but nodded and started to head deeper into the station. All the bio experiments and potentially dangerous things had long ago been cleared you by Shadow around the time he moved in, so Tails felt pretty secure wandering about in the station now. It wasn't like when he had first come here, when Robotnik was using it as a station to hold the world hostage with the Eclipse cannon. Tails stopped in the middle of a hallway as something caught his eye. It was an older moniter with a half opened control panel in front of it. No power was running through the moniter, so Tails decided that it wasn't something Shadow was using. He started to rummage through the assorted wires and bolts that were inside and found some very interesting parts. He looked back down the hall to where Shadow had said he'd be. He did say to go and tell him when he'd found something he wanted, but... well, maybe he didn't have to bother him for a few simple panels like this. Carefully, Tails started to unscrew the safety bolts that held the pieces in place and set them to the side, deciding to take them along, if only for a few spare parts. As he lifted the panels out of their resting place, admiring them in the dim light of the hallway, the moniter suddenly blared to life. "WARNING, WARNING, CODE PLATES HAVE BEEN COMPRIMIZED, CODE PLATES HAVE BEEN COMPREMIZED! BEGINING INTRUDER ELIMINATION!" Several of the wall panels opened to reveal a few wall-mounted sub-machine guns and some lasers. Tails felt his knees start shaking as soon as the first one locked onto him. "LOCK ON. FIRING IN 5... 4... 3... 2..."

Suddenly, they all seemed to lose power and fell limp, retracting into the wall. The moniter shut down as well. Tails gulped and looked around, growing a bit pale as he saw Shadow standing over there, next to the door, a keypad in his hand. "I believe I said come get me before you touch ANYTHING!"

Tails nodded gently. "S-sorry, Shadow, I didn't think that something like that would happen."

Shadow sighed gently and shrugged. "Well... as long as you aren't hurt. It's just lucky for you that I've memorized every security deactivation code and found this wireless keypad here. This thing'll let me input any password or code relivant to the ARK's database straight into it's command chip. I can shut down or start up anything here if I want."

Tails nodded again, quicker this time. "Sorry again, Shadow... is it alright if I take these computer panels then?" he asked, holding up the removed panels."

Shadow sighed again and nodded. "Yes. I'm heading back again. Now remember, come get me next time. If you go too deep in this time and something similar happens, I might not get to you fast enough."

Tails took a deep breath, not wanting to conjure up such an unpleasant image in his mind. "Alright then. I promise, I'll come and get you next time."

Shadow smiled, satisfied. "Alright then. Happy hunting then, Tails." He headed back the way he had come and Tails started to walk further into the ARK complex.

Tails found himself in one of the older areas that he and Sonic had explored together when they had originally come here. He smiled a bit as he saw the gravity-reversal switches they had used to get around in this room. His mind started to churn with all sorts of different ideas about how he could use such a thing in his own inventions. He made his way over to one and decided that it wouldn't hurt to at least pop it open and take a look at what was inside. He undid the faceplate and set it to the side, smiling at all the complex machinery within. Eggman might not have been a very pleasant person, but his grandfather was a downright genius! It was then that Tails noticed two wires that were just sort of floating there, not really connected to anything. They seemed to match up pretty well. Perhaps they had just gotten separated during all the fighting that had taken place here a while back? He felt compelled to put them together, think that, as long as they went together, nothing would happen. He connected the two wires carefully and they fit together perfectly.

It was then that a feeling of weightlessness came over him. He gasped as he found himself hovering above the switch in question. Once again, a slightly automated voice sounded through the empty metal corridors. "ANTI-GRAVITY RING ENGAGED. ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY NEGATED. HAVE A NICE DAY."

Tails groaned gently and tried to push himself back down towards the wires. He understood how this worked now! The gravity switches themselves formed a gravitic ring around the complex. When he had connected those wires, he had actually DISconnected the gravitic ring, so the artificial gravity had been countered. It was an odd setup. Tails was beginning to realize why only people who had a hand in the construction of this place should fiddle with it. "I guess I'd better just disconnect those wires again."

There was a soft grunt from behind him. "Better not."

Tails jumped a bit in midair. "Oh, um... hey Shadow!" He formed a small smile.

Shadow groaned and just pushed himself towards the gravity switch. "Tails, I am really starting to regret letting you up here."

Tails blushed in embarrassment as Shadow slowly and carefully went to work. He first switched around a whole bunch of other wires before disconnecting the two wires Tails had been playing with. "There."

All at once, Tails felt the pull of gravity and was slammed into the ground roughly. "Oww..." he whimpered.

Shadow quickly helped the boy to his feet and sighed, holding onto his arm. "Tails, you're really starting to worry me."

Tails gulped a bit. "I'm really sorry Shadow! I thought those wires..."

Shadow shook his head. "Yes, you thought that something was wrong with the machine, but you didn't know precisely how it worked, did you?"

Tails bowed his head as he was scolded. "No sir."

Shadow smiled a bit, now Tails' immaturity and childish nature was starting to showl. "It's alright I guess. But I'm warning you, Tails, I'm not going to be so lenient if this happens a third time. You could get yourself seriously hurt here and the last thing I want to deal with this that blue friend of yours."

Tails nodded slowly. "Okay, Shadow..."

Shadow smiled and nodded, ruffling the boy's hair a bit. "Alright then, it should be safe for you to take out any parts you want from that thing now."

Tails smiled at him again and nodded, walking back to the switch. "thanks, Shadow... are you sure if I take any parts out from here, it won't effect the gravity again?"

Shadow grinned. "Don't worry, when the gravity went haywire back there, I input the code to lock the current gravity level permenantly. As long as at least one of these switches remain functioning, I shouldn't have a problem with them." He crossed his arms sternly and looked at the boy. "But this time, Tails, is the last time I'm going to ask you... please come to me before you try to remove ANYTHING!"

Tails nodded quickly. "I promise, I promise!" He gulped a bit at Shadow's sudden gruffness. "I'll come to you."

Shadow nodded again, satisfied. "Remember, Tails, this is the last time. If I catch you this time, I am not going to be so forgiving." The tone he took wasn't so much threatening as it was a warning.

Tails nodded once again, taking it to heart. "I will."

Shadow smiled and walked off. Tails quickly cleansed the gravity switch of all the parts he would need to put a similar mechanism in one of his own inventions. He decided to go just a bit further in. He remembered seeing some very complicated shield items near the heart of the ARK and if he could get ahold of a few of them, then he could easily throw up a very tough shield around his own vehicles. That would make flying the Tornado a breeze, even in rough weather! He started to jog, excited about the thought.

Now, in the deepest parts of the ARK, he saw the places where most of the genetic experiments were carried out. Numerous studies must have taken place, and the scientists were very careful with their tools. Almost all the study papers and files were still there, along with box upon box of tools they had used. He started to rummage around, thinking that there had to be something worth taking in here. As his curiosity grew, he decided to brows the computer files on this section of the ARK, thinking that they had to have some sort of catalog of everything here. There was no shortage of computer monitors around, so he simply booted one up and started to search. What he found was not as helpful as he had hoped. Only information relivant to the experiments carried out in this particular section of the ARK was stored here. He was about to get off and get back to searching manually, when he spotted something interesting, the very last file listed. It was titled "ZimmerPersonalFiles." According to the personnel log that Tails had read way back when they had first come here, Zimmer was one of the Genetics experts who had first volunteered to work on the ARK.

Tails concluded that this must have been his personal computer, where he did all of his research. No one else probably used it much and that's why Zimmer had felt it safe to store his own personal data on the computer. His curiosity aroused once again, Tails clicked on the obscure file.

He nearly fainted when he saw what popped up. Within said file were gigabytes upon gigabytes of pornography! Tails felt chills run down his spine and he quickly looked over his shoulder, afraid that someone might have been watching him at that moment. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and prepared to close the file, but then... an odd tingly sensation ran over him again. It wasn't the same chill he had felt earlier... it was sort of a rush of excitement. Tails was getting to the age where he was starting to... develope and he was naturally curious about such things as this.

Against his better judgement, he started to browse through the ancient porn. Some of it was just horrible and made him shudder, but then there was some stuff that actually made him want to see more. He let a small smile cross his lips as he moved from picture to video to erotic story, and so on. Time seemed to stand still for the fox as he moved down the file. His mission forgotten, his brain instead started to focus on fantasizing. At one point, he actually let out a small mewling noise as his brain came up with a particularly interesting fantasy.

Tails smiled and prepared to click on a link to another dirty video. This one was entitled, 'Red-Ass'. Just as he had gotten the video loaded, he felt someone grab onto his ear, causing him to yelp and jump at once. He looked over his shoulder as much as he could with his ear held as it was. He gulped as he saw who it was, the only person it could have been. "Uh... h-hi Shadow..."

Shadow was giving the young fox boy the harshest glare he could muster. "Mind telling me why you suddenly took an interest in what was in the computer?"

Tails gulped again. "Well, um... I... I thought maybe I could look up what parts were where if I..."

Shadow nodded. "And then you got curious... I can understand that since nothing was destroyed, or thrown out of whack this time, but..." he turned Tails back to the video playing, where a full grown woman was getting a hard whipping from a man, both of them naked. "Why didn't you just close this when you first saw what it was?"

Tails shuddered at the tone that Shadow was taking with him. "W-well, um... I was... c-curious."

Shadow sighed gently and, still holding Tails firmly by the ear, he reached over and closed the video and the files. "You really pushed me to my limit, Tails. I let you come up here of my own free will and you almost get yourself killed, you short out the gravity, and now you're looking at porn. You know I'm not going to let this slide."

Tails felt himself shiver gently. "W-what are you gonna do?" he asked, scared beyond belief. Shadow had proven himself very violent in the past, sometimes far too over-dramatic for a situation.

Shadow seemed to let the question churn over in his mind for a while. "Come with me." He didn't much give Tails a choice, dragging him along, back up to the central lounge where Shadow had been.

Tails whimpered as he was pulled along. "H-how did you know about this?" he asked gently.

Shadow smiled slightly. "All the security cameras are functioning here... and I can moniter everything going on in the ARK from the main lounge."

Tails blushed gently. "S-Shadow, I'm really, really sorry!"

Shadow nodded gently. "I'm sure you are, but I am still disappointed." He walked into the lounge and drew Tails over to the large sofa located near the center of the room. "Tails, I am going to let you go back, gather the parts you have, and you may leave. You are also allowed to come back up here at any time, for whatever reason, as long as you promise me that you will obey the rules that I set more closely."

Tails brightened, believing that he was getting off easy. "Thank you, Shadow, I promise!" He turned and started to leave to go back and gather his parts, but Shadow grabbed one of his tail. "Huh? Um, aren't we done?"

Shadown raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think you were getting off that easily, did you? You disobeyed me and did something very inappropriate, looking at that pornography without closing it as soon as you identified it as such."

Tails gulped gently. "W-what are you gonna do?"

Shadow sighed again. "I am not your father, Tails, but as long as you are in my home, under my rules, I think that gives me command over you for the time being. Tails, I am going to spank you."

Tails had never been spanked before, but there were very few people in the world that had gone through life not being told what a spanking was, and how it was carried out. Tails immediately started to try and jerk himself away, but Shadow held him fast. Tails let out another small whimper. "No! S-Shadow, please don't! I'm sorry about all this, I really am! Please don't spank me! They were all accidents!"

Shadow nodded again. "Accidents that were caused by poor judgement on your part, Tails. You know that the consequences could have been far more severe than what I'm abou to do to you."

Tails knew that he was right, but it still did little to settle his fears about what was about to happen. Slowly, he conceded to Shadow's strength and turned to face him. "Please, Shadow... be careful, I've... never been spanked before..." The boy shuddered at the slightest utterance of the word.

Shadow nodded, understanding. "Alright. But I'm warning you right now, Tails, I am not going to give you any mercy. This is punishment, plain and simple. If you block, you'll get extra swats. If you cuss, or try very hard to break free, I'll spank you harder, regardless of the promise I made, understand?"

Tails nodded again and just stood by him, as if expecting this even to happen by magic. Shadow saw how nervous the boy was and couldn't help feeling a bit guilty for sentencing him to this, but he knew he had to be firm. He was still angry about Tails getting into trouble with the computer and the anti-gravity crisis, but he was very disappointed in the kitsune for the pornography. He would have thought that, no matter how young or ignorant Tails was, that genius mind of his would have settled on the obviously logical solution of getting away from such material as soon as possible. Slowly, Shadow reached up and took the boy by the arm, gently guiding him so that he was laying over his lap, his bottom raised slightly, his body supported on both sides by the sofa.

Tails continued to shake and shiver, expecting pain to rain down on his bottom any second now. He gasped as he felt Shadow's hand grab the edge of his shorts. "Sh-Shadow, what are you doing?!" he shouted, squirming a bit as he felt the soft fabric, and his only viable shield, slide down to his knees, leaving his bare bottom exposed to the world.

Shadow answered after making sure that Tails wouldn't be able to kick his legs very well with the clothing around them. "I'm preparing you for your punishment. The effects of a spanking are greatly reduced over clothing, Tails. Sorry, but this is going to be on your bare bottom."

Tails bit his lip and nodded slowly, shoving his face into the cushion. "Alright..." he said meekly.

Shadow nodded again and raised his hand above his head, bringing it down quickly, demonstrating that he was not only fast with his feet, but also with his hands. SMACK! The slap landed and the sound echoed loudly in the empty room. It was accompanied quickly by Tails' head shooting up and giving a loud yowl of pain. "Shadow, I don't like this! Stop it!" he shouted, whimpering.

Shadow closed his eyes and lowered his ears to try and block out the boy's saddened face and desperate cries as the next few swats landed. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK!

Tails started to squirm again, though it was more controlled this time. He chewed his lip again as the slaps rained down on his bare, sensitive backside. In his short life, he had never once thought he would even recieve something like this, but then again, he had been wrong before. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK! Shadow hadn't been kidding when he had said he would be mercilless. It was early on in the punishment, but it already felt like someone was holding a lit candle against each cheek. The feeling only intensified when Shadow landed another spank, only to let the pain rise for a bit before bringing his hand back down again. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK!

Shadow felt tails start to kick. He stopped the spanking for a few seconds before giving Tails an exceptionally hard smack. "Quit struggling." he warned.

Tails took it to heart and tried his best to calm down, even as the spanks started to rain down again. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK! "OW! I'm sorry, Ouch! I promise to, AH! be good, ShadOW!"

Shadow nodded gently, able to hear Tails clearly, even though he had taken steps to try and limit the hearing of the boy's pleas. "I know, Tails." SMACK SMACK SMACK! "I'm just making very sure that we don't have any such incidents every again." SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK!

All through this, Tails was still blushing, this was a very odd experience to him, as well as painful since he wasn't exactly used to having his butt blistered in such a manner. His fists clenched the sofa cushions tightly, hoping that would bring some form of relief, though it did little for him. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK!

Tails' whimpering started to turn to sobs, followed quickly by full out crying, but Shadow ceased to relent as of yet. The spanking seemed never ending to the young boy. Shadow regarded his bottom very carefully. It was growing redder with every spank and as it reached the cherry mark, he judged he'd gotten his point across. With ten more viscious slaps, he ended the lesson. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK! He stopped and merely rubbed Tails' backside as the boy lay there over his lap, crying like a newborn. "Hush, it's over now, Tails, I promise."

Tails just cried into the pillow, his bottom blazing, but he dared not reach back there while he was still over Shadow's knee. He was not taking a single chance that could get his bare backside into even deeper trouble.

Slowly, shadow pulled Tails' pants up, making him cry out as they traveled over his red posterior. He couldn't help it anymore, as soon as Shadow hid his pants all the way up, he leaped up onto his feet and started rubbing furiously at his backside, trying his best to work the sting out. Shadow smiled a bit. "Alright, Tails, you're forgiven and I accept your apology... go ahead and get your parts."

Tails sniffled and nodded. He walked back to where he had been discovered and grabbed the parts, not even glancing at the computer that had sealed his fate. He did see the security camera that had caught him though, and for a few moments, he was tempted to make a rude gesture, but then, remembering that Shadow could see him, he hurried back.

Shadow smiled at Tails again as he came back, still dancing a little bit as his bottom was still burning from the spanking. He patted Tails' shoulder gently. "Alright then, do you think you have everything you'll need for right now?"

Tails nodded gently, blushing a bit. "Yes sir."

Shadow laughed a bit. "Just call me Shadow, Tails. Sir is far more formality than I deserve. Besides, all I did was spank you. We're still friends, I told you I'd forgiven you."

Tails nodded again. "It still stings."

Shadow shrugged. "Hold on." He walked out of the lounge for a second, coming back in a few seconds with a small can of cream. "Here, put down the parts and bend over the couch."

Tails was wary, but since Shadow had said all was forgiven, He decided to trust him. He set his parts to the side and bent himself over the couch, blushing again, the feeling of the position far more familiar to him than he would have liked.

Shadow smiled and unscrewed the cap to the cream, setting it to the side. He gently reached over and took hold of Tails' shorts for the second time, gently sliding them down, just enough to expose his bottom. Tails sqiurmed gently, but he was comforted when he saw Shadow smile gently out of the corner of his eye. He remained stilly and shuddered gently as he felt something very cool and calming press against his bottom. "Sh-Shadow?"

Shadow chuckled a bit. "Don't worry... this is just some cold cream, it should help the sting a little bit."

It did help. As the cream was gently applied, Tails could already feel a bit of the pain leaving him. "Thanks..." he said gently. He looked over his shoulder a bit. "Um... Shadow... no one else has to know about this, right?"

Shadow finished applying the cream and screwed the cap back on before answering. "No. I promise Tails, no one else will hear of it. However, if you ever come up here and break my rules again, I'll use something harder than my hand, understand?"

Tails shuddered gently and stood up, gently pulling his pants up again. "I understand, I promise!"

Shadow nodded and helped Tails get his parts over to the teleporter. "Will you be alright once you're back on earth?" he asked gently.

Tails nodded. "Yeah... and I am sorry that our meeting couldn't have been better, Shadow."

Shadow shrugged. "It's fine. Maybe you could come up here for a simple social call soon. I'd enjoy the company every once in a while." He ruffled Tails' hair a bit and booted up the teleporter. "Alright, you're all set to go then."

Tails nodded again and stepped into it. "Thanks... I promise, next time I visit, I won't be so much trouble."

Shadow nodded. "I know you won't... or else." He made a swipe at the air with the flat of his hand that made Tails wince. Their eyes locked for a second and they both burst out laughing as Tails disappeared into the green light that took him back to earth.

Alone again, Shadow headed back to the lounge and sat down again. The whole thing was still warm. He sighed gently. "Damn, I miss the little furball already." Who knew a short visit from a troublesome fox could make him so adverse to solitude. He closed his eyes slowly and smiled slightly. "Maybe I would have made a better father than I thought..." He laughed again and lay back, feeling sleep overtake him.

**END**


End file.
